Also, we are so happy to have the cooperation of the Collinsville Fired Depart on the day of the show! We invite families to meet our treasured Asian elephants, up close and personal as we scrub them down and pretty them up at the elephant wash with the help of the Collinsville Fire Department, held at 3pm and open to the public for no charge! We offer an educational opportunity as well to the local schools and daycares on the morning of the show.

We could sure use your help getting the word out… I have attached the press releases and would be happy to email you some photos if you’re interested in adding our event to your online publication.

Thanks!
Angela Ward
Marketing Coordinator
Carson and Barnes Circus
PO Box J
Hugo, OK 74743
award@carsonbarnescircus.com

580.326.2233 P
580.326.7466 F

www.bigtopshow.com

· Register your child online at https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/2015EAC

· Sign a consent form at http://guides.tulsalibrary.org/content.php?pid=607519&sid=5016461

For a free library card go to http://www.tulsalibrary.org/application.

Sincerely,
Robin Bushyhead (9/19/2015)
Teen Library Associate
Collinsville Library
(918) 549-7528

Sponsored by Oklahoma AmeriCorps, Tulsa Library Trust, Friends of Helmerich Library , and TCCL Staff Association.

There are reasons why city and county governments are empowered to enact measures to preserve and protect the safety, health, welfare, and morals of the community. Carson & Barnes Circus is very skilled at luring businesses like Kent's Custom Cars & Trucks and Collinsville Downtown Inc, & Co, into promoting them as a family fun event.

A USDA background check alone reveals they are habitual offenders of the Animal Welfare Act with over 100 violations. The USDA repeatedly fines them for putting the public’s safety at risk around the elephants and for lack of humane animal care but they just pay the fines and keep re-offending. They write it off as the cost of doing business. This is how circuses have stayed in business for decades.

In April 2015 the USDA charged the circus for putting the public’s safety at risk when they lost control of three elephants for 45 minutes in St. Charles, MO in 2014. These elephant were preparing to give rides. AWA Docket No. 15-01030: http://www.aphis.usda.gov/wps/portal/aphis/newsroom/news/sa_news/sa_by_date/sa_2015/ct_05/ct_awa_april/!ut/p/a0/04_Sj9CPykssy0xPLMnMz0vMAfGjzOK9_D2MDJ0MjDzdXUyMDTzdPA2cAtz8jT1dTPULsh0VAbiDHEw!/

This dramatic fight in 2014 between two Carson & Barnes elephants performing in Utah shows how dangerous and stressed these huge animals are. People with bullhooks and Hotshot cannot stop elephants on a rampage as this video shows. These same elephants are still used to give rides. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J9xNi-1LdUo

January 2015 a USDA inspection at Carson’s facilities in Hugo, OK was performed. The finding from the USDA report found that the numerous animals are suffering from lack of adequate veterinary care:

* Katie, a pygmy hippo, was "found dead" in November; after being taken off the road six months earlier over concerns for her loss of weight; there are no records indicating that she was weighed regularly or even observed for body condition deterioration. At necropsy it was noted that her body condition was poor, with skeletal features visible.

*Two Asian elephants Rosie and Opal suffering from arthritis. (One of these elephants killed Dr. Laurita in 2014).

*An elephant, Nina, has been losing weight since early 2013 (500 pounds, or 8.7% of her body weight, over the past 7-8 months). Dr. Kay Backeus of the Tulsa Zoo, who provides free veterinary services to…Carson and Barnes Circus said, “She’s not in bad condition…She said the elephant’s weight has remained stable throughout adulthood, and it seems to have a good appetite…Every elephant’s body composition is different, just like humans,” she said. http://www.wiscnews.com/pdf_a80977a3-8beb-5bb1-8d04-beab8b8049b0.html

Nina died in the spring of 2015. She was one of the elephants traveling with Minnie who tested positive for exposure to TB in 2012. During the January 2015 USDA inspection report Minnie was missing and nowhere to be found. http://www.allanimals.org/files/Carson_&_Barnes_Circus_DATCP_8-2012.pdf

TB issues within Carson’s herd of elephants: http://www.aphis.usda.gov/foia/foia_requests/2011/Animal%20Care%20%28AC%29/11-634%20%20Documents%20regarding%20the%20Carson%20and%20Barnes%20Circus%20and%20the%20death%20of%20African%20elephant%20Joy/11-634%20Records.pdf

Bryan Monell while employed by Carson witness these events during a Tuberculosis trunk wash test. This was the affidavit he gave to USDA inspector Lupe Aguilar about how circus personnel switched Tuberculosis trunk washes for the elephants being tested. https://www.facebook.com/bryan.monell/posts/10201534826908209

It is believed that 12% of captive elephants in the US have Tuberculosis. The circus and zoo industry have a serious problem with Tuberculosis. A study between the Center of Disease Control and Vanderbilt University shows that humans can catch TB from elephants. It is the same strain of tuberculosis. http://news.vanderbilt.edu/2011/03/elephants-transmit-tb/#.UdW7VsDL01E.facebook

Kenneth H. Vail served as the USDA's lead legal counsel on animal welfare cases. If I were an elephant, I wouldn’t want to be with Feld Entertainment,” Vail conceded. “It’s a tough life.”…Vail said he thought TB would prove to be a much bigger problem for Feld/Ringling… New guidelines for TB are under consideration…. “That’s probably going to be the downfall of Feld’s elephants.” Vail predicted." The Cruelest Show On Earth. Nov/Dec 2011 http://www.motherjones.com/environment/2011/10/ringling-bros-elephant-abuse

Parents are deceived into believing that it is safe to let their families ride these elephants but the evidence shows these circus elephant have been forced to perform for over 30 years and they are dangerous. That is why you must consider the risk to the public’s safety. At the very least cancel elephant rides to prevent direct contact.

Respectfully yours,

Jane Myers
(9/17/2015)